Our first look at Jon Stewart's directorial debut has arrived with the 'Rosewater' trailer, showcasing a side of this funnyman we've never seen before. After years of making us laugh and sigh as the host of 'The Daily Show,' the beloved comedian has stepped behind the camera with a film that doesn't look like it has a single laugh in its entire running time, but it looks harrowing and fascinating all the same.

Based on the real-life experiences of BBC journalist Maziar Bahari (and his book, 'They Came for Me'), 'Rosewater' follows a journalist who ventures into Iran to cover the 2009 presidential election, points his camera at the wrong things and finds himself a prisoner of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government. Subjected to interrogation and torture by a man known only as "Rosewater," Bahari struggles to retain hope in the face of some extremely dark odds.

And it all looks intense and, somehow, strangely uplifting. There has always been a keen sense of outrage and actual journalistic standards embedded in Stewart's comedy, so it shouldn't be too surprising that he'd have a movie like this in him. And yet, here we are, still a little shocked that this is the movie he temporarily left 'The Daily Show' to go make.

Here is the official synopsis:

'Rosewater' follows the Tehran-born Bahari, a 42-year-old broadcast journalist with Canadian citizenship living in London. In June 2009, Bahari returned to Iran to interview Mir-Hossein Moussavi, who was the prime challenger to controversial incumbent president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As Moussavi’s supporters rose up to protest Ahmadinejad’s victory declaration hours before the polls closed on election day, Bahari endured great personal risk by submitting camera footage of the unfolding street riots to the BBC. Bahari was soon arrested by Revolutionary Guard police, led by a man identifying himself only as “Rosewater,” who proceeded to torture and interrogate the journalist over the next 118 days.

'Rosewater' will make its worldwide debut at the Telluride Film Festival on August 29 before arriving in theaters on November 7.